Christmas Cookies
by Treta Aysel
Summary: With Eliza out shopping for a few last minute gifts with her sisters, Alexander decided to make cookies to leave out for Santa with Philip. [Modern AU]


**Christmas Cookies:**

"Where's Mama?"

Philip stood in the doorway that lead into his parents' room. The two-year-old was still dressed in his footie pajamas; in his right hand he clutched the arm of the teddy bear he brought everywhere. Eyes watched as his father made the bed. Philip waited for an answer for a few seconds before he moved over to the bassinet that held Angie, making the bear wave at his younger sister.

Alexander looked up as he smoothed out the quilt he placed on the bed, smiling a bit as he looked over at Philip. "She went shopping with your aunts. She'll be back later."

Philip looked up from his sister. "Mama was 'posed to help make cookies for Santa! Santa coming tonight!" The two-year-old squealed as he bounced up and down. Ever since his mother told him they could bake cookies for Santa, he had been excited.

"Well," Alexander began as he stooped down to the bassinet to pick up Angie. He cradled the babe in his arms a moment before he looked back up over at Philip. "How about after we eat breakfast we can make cookies so when your mom gets home she'll be so surprised." It was the least Alexander could do. He had been working and Eliza had done most of the shopping for the kids for Christmas and doing other holiday related things with them, baking cookies with Philip so she had one less thing to worry about seemed like a good idea to try and make it up to her a bit.

Philip stood there for a long moment just staring at his father before nodding his head. He turned on his heels to run to the kitchen. "Come on, Papa!" First, they had to get breakfast out of the way, but they were just that much closer to baking the cookies for Santa.

Alexander followed Philip from the bedroom to the kitchen, setting Angelica in her bouncer seat. "Can I have ice cream?" Philip looked at his father as the question left his lips, grin on his face.

"No."

Philip frowned as he watched as his dad got some bowls and cereal out before pouring it for both. He added a bit of milk and passed the bowl and a spoon to Philip. "Here you go." Philip poked at his cereal a moment. It wasn't ice cream, but it would have to do.

Breakfast was finished quickly, and Alexander cleared away the bowls and placed them in the sink for now. Washing them would come later, they were going to be making a mess so why not wash them at the end when they cleaned up. The reason was the same one that he didn't bother dressing Philip, his clothes were just going to get dirty and he was going to have to change him again. It was easier said and done this way.

Soon the counters were filled with bowls and everything else Alexander thought they needed to make cookies. He had his laptop open and going through some online recipes for the cookies as he came across a few choices. Classic chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, oatmeal raisin, the list went on. Soon, Alexander looked up and looked down at his son who was watching with a curious expression on his face. "What kind do you think we should bake?"

It only took a few seconds before he received an answer. "Chocolate!"

A smile formed on Alexander's lips as he chuckled. He looked up from the recipe and over the contents of the counter that was before. "Well," he pursed his lips in though. "We're missing the chocolate chips for chocolate chip cookies. What about Sugar cookies? You can decorate them and make them pretty for Santa. Plus, I heard they were Santa's favorite. How does that sound?"

Philip stood there in thought before nodding his head as he bounced up and down on his feet. "Yes! Those ones!"

"Okay, okay," Alexander laughed, shaking his head. He looked at Philip before the counter. The boy was going to need something to stand on if they were going to make the cookies. He could barely see over the counter. "Why don't we go get the stool in the bathroom Mama has you stand on to brush your teeth? That way you can see over the counter."

Soon the red stool that stood at the bathroom sink was in front of the counter. Philip was standing on it and he could see everything clearly now. He could see all the treats but stood still and waited for his father before doing anything else.

Alexander had turned back to his computer and read the recipe carefully as he set the bowl down on the counter in front of Philip. The two-year-old blinked watching the bowl curiously. They added the sugar and butter in the bowl. "Now," Alexander began as he set the laptop aside and he looked at his son. "Would you like to stir?" They needed to stir it first before adding anything else.

Philip nodded eagerly as his father handed him the wooden spoon. "Now," Alexander began. "You have to be careful, okay?"

A moment or two later, Philip looked up at his dad. "Need help, Papa."

"Here," Alexander came to stand behind Philip as he placed his hands over his sons and together the two of them mixed everything in the bowl. "There we go," Alexander said as he removed the spoon. He leaned down and placed a kiss atop his sons' head. "You're good at stirring."

A toothy grin made its way across Philip's face as he glanced up at his father once again. He stood there watching as the last couple of ingredients were added and the mixer mixed everything together. Philip blinked, and Alexander frowned as he looked at the recipe and the product before them. "Well, it's not as good looking as your mothers, that's for sure."

The two of them glanced into the bowl were the batter was. The consistency didn't look anything like the pictures the website he used but it didn't matter. "Cookies now?" Philip asked in a soft voice. Alexander only nodded as he grabbed the batter and a rolling pin.

Festive cookies cutters came next, followed by a plate being filled with the uncooked cookie shapes. Alexander grabbed the cookie sheet and filled it with the shapes before placing them in the oven. The timer on his phone was set and placed on the counter. "Papa?" Philip began, tugging at Alexander's shirt. "Can we play now?"

"Well," Alexander began as he looked at the timer and back over at Philip. It wouldn't be long before the first batch was done, and the second batch had to go in. "Why don't we make Christmas decorations instead?" He said as he glanced over at the bouncer chair to see Angie still in the chair. "I think your mother has some paper around here."

In a matter of minutes kitchen was covered in construction paper, scissors, crayons, and stickers. Philip sat with a large crayon in his hand as he drew a picture. "Are they done, Papa?" He asked as he watched Alexander make his way over and check the oven. He shook his head, closing the oven once again, "Not yet."

Philip shrugged and went back to his picture, drawing with the crayon before setting it down. Grinning, he looked over at Alexander. "I made a picture! Will Mama like it?" He held up the picture for his father to see, green scribbles covered the red paper.

Alexander leaned in, looking down at the picture his son had drawn. Smiling he nodded his head at him. "It's very good, Philip. I think your Mama will love it."

As Philip set the picture down he grabbed a yellow piece of paper and a green crayon this time. "Can I draw for Santa?"

"Go ahead. I'm sure Santa would love a picture from you. It would make him feel special."

Philip nodded as he bounced in his seat before he started to draw his picture for Santa. Right as the timer went over Philip put his crayon down once more, holding up the paper. "Papa, look! I drawed you, Mama, Sissy and me!"

Alexander glanced up at the piece of paper nodded as he carefully took out the cookies. "I see, it's very nice Philip."

The smell of fresh sugar cookies filled the apartment and Philip was eager to have one. He sat and waited in his chair, soon covering one of the pictures he drew in stickers. "Hey," Alexander's voice brought the two-year-old out of his own little world and he looked over at his father. "Why don't we decorate the cookies now? I think they cooled off a bit."

Nodding, Philip set down the sheet of stickers and bounced right out of his seat as he made his way over to the stool. "Ready, Papa!"

Several different colors of frosting sat on the table before them. It was hard having to pick just one color but soon Philip settled on the mint green frosting. He used a plastic spoon, globing the frosting onto the cookie without spreading it before adding rainbow sprinkles to the tree shaped cookie he had picked. "Santa will like mine bestest."

Alexander looked over from his cookie. He was carefully frosting a star shaped cookie with yellow frosting. He couldn't help but grin. "I think you're right, kiddo. I agree with that."

Philip grinned proudly as he looked over at his dad's cookie. "Papa, yours looks yummy!"

Alexander smiled as he added a few sprinkles to the top. "You think so? Will Santa like it?"

Philip looked between his and his father's cookies before shrugging. "Maybe! Mine's better." The boy then glanced over at Angie in her bouncer seat. "Sissy, come make cookies!"

"Philip."

"Yes, Papa?" Bright brown eyes blinked as he looked over his shoulder to look at his father for a long moment, head tilting to the side.

Alexander shook his head, giving Philip a tiny smile. "She can't make cookies yet. Angie's still too little."

Blinking, Philip looked down at his sister. "Oh! Is okay, Sissy! I make cookies for you!" With that, Philip proceeded to grab a Santa shaped cookie and put a large helping of blue frosting on it mixed with sprinkles. "Look sissy!" He waved the cookie high, the two-month-old cooed in her bouncer chair. "Papa, write Santa! Say cookies from Sissy too!" Philip wasn't sure quite what Santa looked for when it came to presents along with milk and cookies. Maybe he only left them for the people who gave him milk and cookies. In any case, Philip knew he wanted his sister to get presents too.

Alexander chuckled, nodding as he wrote a note while Philip decorated more cookies from himself and Angie for Santa. After a while, Alexander looked at the clock. They had had a small lunch in between decorating cookies and now it was nearly one which was when naptime was. "Hey, it's nap time, okay?"

Philip pouted a moment before shook his head. "No nap time! I wanna wait for Mama!"

"Philip," Alexander warned, voice stern. "It's nap time. It's not a choice." He made his way over to the bouncer chair and picked up Angie. "Your sister is going to nap too. Come on."

Philip frowned as he pouted, but he didn't argue as he followed his father into the bedroom. He climbed into the bed as his father set Angie down in her bassinet next to his own bed, his sister fast asleep and Philip soon followed suit.

Back in the kitchen, Alexander set to work cleaning up the mess he and Philip had made. After putting away everything they used to make and decorate the cookies, he filled the sink with hot soapy water to begin washing the dishes that were pilled in there.

The door to the apartment swung open and Eliza shuffled in, shopping backs hanging off her arms. "I'm back," she called as she set the bags down in the entryway for the time being before following the sound of running water to the kitchen.

Alexander turned off the facet and glanced up to see her coming to join him in the kitchen. He smiled at her, nodding once. "Hey, how was shopping?"

Eliza's shoulders shrugged as she glanced around the room. "It was fine, there were too many people there. I suppose that's what happens when you go shopping the day before, but I got some last-minute gifts for the kids." She spoke as she watched him washing before her gaze fell onto the plate of sugar cookies. "What's this?" The question left her lips with a small smile.

Alexander grinned at her before shrugging. "I decided that Philip and I would make cookies so that's one less thing that you'd have to worry about."

Eliza's brown eyes softened as she made her way over to him. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close before leaning up and placing a soft kiss on his lips. "Alexander, you're amazing."

He grinned down at her as he gave her a wink. "I know."

Eyes rolled as Eliza shook her head, small smile on her face. "I see you and Philip made your favorite cookies too."

"Well, Santa needs to get his favorite."

She rose an eyebrow at him. "Yes, I know."

"Is that bad?"

"Not as long as Santa shares them with his wife."

Alexander grinned, brushing his lips against hers once more. "Of course, he will, my love."

"Good," she spoke as she returned the kiss.

 **AN: I meant to post this on Christmas Eve, but that didn't happen. Anyways, it's here now and I hope you all have a nice and safe New Year.**


End file.
